Say 'Evo' and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in its many generations springs to mind. At least that's what popped into the head of one UK dealer importing Subaru Imprezas from Japan.

Pat Tennant, who bought an Evo from him, recalls what happened next: "The dealer's supplier told him he had space for two more cars in the shipping container, and would he like a couple of Evos? The dealer thought he meant Lancers and said 'yes please', but when he opened the container at the UK port and saw they were Mitsubishi Pajero Evos, he wondered what they were and how he was going to sell them!"

The dealer had no choice but to advertise the cars. Luckily for him, Pat saw the ad and did some research. "It turned out the Pajero Evo was a very special car," he says. "Mitsubishi wanted to enter the Dakar Rally so built around 2500 road-legal versions, based on the Mk2 Pajero, to qualify.

Apart from having no roll cage, they're technically and visually very similar to the rally cars, with a widened chassis and large, flared wheel arches, multi-link rear suspension, Torsen diffs and a 3.5-litre 24-valve V6 Mivec petrol engine producing 275bhp."

The road-going Pajero Evo was sold for only one year, 1998, but that was enough to give the rally version the green light for the T2 class in the Dakar, which it won. In fact, between 1985 and 2007, Pajeros won a record 12 editions of the rally.

With all this in mind, when the dealer invited Pat to look at these two weird Evos that had just landed, Pat knew he was going to buy one. The only question was which. "I wanted one as close to the factory spec as possible," he says.

"The white one had too much aftermarket kit on it, so it had to be the silver one, which, apart from having an aftermarket exhaust, was totally standard and in lovely condition. With 120,000 miles on it, it cost me £10,000, but I reckon that one day it will be worth £100,000.

"Currently, it's insured for £35,000." After five years of ownership, Pat's affection for his Evo is undimmed. "Some of the stories around these cars are amazing," he says. "During the Dakar, one went off the road, broke its front suspension, smashed through a hedge on its way back to the road and won its stage!

"They're phenomenal motors with real presence on the road. It pulls really strongly from a start it does 0-62mph in less than 8.0 seconds although after 20 feet, you realise there's not much more left. I love the way how, under full acceleration, the back squats down on the suspension and the nose rises. With a best economy figure of 12mpg, I tend to drive it quite sedately, though."

He's clearly smitten, but then things take a sinister turn. Pat says: "Every time I open the door, a Japanese woman speaks to me. I used to think she was saying: 'Good morning, Pat. You're looking handsome today.' But I've since been told she's really telling me I don't have a permit for Japan's toll roads."

Pat has no plans to move the car on any time soon. "I'm going to keep it, along with my Mini one of the last Mini Coopers made and signed by Paddy Hopkirk and a rare 2001 Land Rover Discovery V8 manual. Keep going like this and I'll have a great collection one day!"